


Arcadia Café

by SadPrivilege



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, coffee AU, something cute to break up the suffering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 01:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5689120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadPrivilege/pseuds/SadPrivilege
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was stunning. Beautiful blue hair framed her thin face perfectly. Piercing blue eyes completed the picture, along with a trace of a smirk on her small, thin lips. Max blinked a couple times, suddenly aware that she was probably smiling like an idiot. A name tag that was pinned to her apron read “Chloe”.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arcadia Café

Max walked into the small coffee shop after a sleepless night plagued with fears of tests and failing her classes. She had woken up just minutes before her first class, photography with Mark Jefferson (heart eyes), hurriedly gotten dressed, still pulling her hoodie on as she walked into the coffee shop, and, by God, she needed energy. She hurried over to the only barista present, who was wearing a black beanie that covered most of her hair, yet some blue strands peaked out. She was wearing a white tank top under the apron, and Max felt her cheeks burn when she noticed that she could see the barista’s bra clearly visible. Trying as hard as possible to avoid thinking about the woman’s attire, she cleared her throat, hoping to get the barista’s attention. Luckily, it worked, and the lady turned around. Upon seeing the woman’s face, Max let out a small gasp.

She was stunning. Beautiful blue hair framed her thin face perfectly. Piercing blue eyes completed the picture, along with a trace of a smirk on her small, thin lips. Max blinked a couple times, suddenly aware that she was probably smiling like an idiot. A name tag that was pinned to her apron read “Chloe”.

“What'll it be?” the woman, Max guessed she was Chloe, asked.

“Oh, um, a-a pumpkin spice latte, p-please,” she stuttered, blushing furiously. Chloe laughed, and it was the most beautiful laugh Max had ever heard.

“Typical white girl. Can I have your name?” Chloe said, leaning on her elbow lazily and writing down Max’s order on a sticky note.

“M-Max Caulfield,” she wrote that down as well, before pausing, looking up at Max.

“Caulfield? Like, cauliflower, and cornfield? Weird name.”

“Y-yeah. I've heard Max Cauliflower, Max Cornfield, a-all of them.”

“Alright. Chloe Price, nice to meet you,” she held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you too,” Max took her hand, shaking it lightly before immediately snapping it back to her side nervously. Chloe smiled a little, handing Max’s order to someone else behind the counter. The other person was older, probably 40 or 50, with her blond hair tied into a bun. Presumably, Chloe saw Max looking at the other woman, and chipped in.

“That's Joyce, my mom. She owns the place, and gave me a job here. I haven't seen you around town, Caulfield.”

“Hm? Oh, no. I just moved here from Seattle a month or so ago.”

“Why the hell’d you go from Seattle to shitty little Arcadia Bay?”

“I, uh, got into Blackwell.”

“You moved to this shit pit for Blackwell? Holy shit…”

“Why, is there something wrong with that?”

“Yeah, Blackwell is a giant joke. Don't waste your time, Caulfield.”

“Whatever you say, Price.” They spoke for a couple more minutes before Max’s coffee was done, at which point her class was just minutes from starting. Max threw a few dollars on the counter before grabbing the coffee, heading towards the door, aware of Chloe’s eyes on her. She ignored her, focused on getting to class on time. As she was jogging to class, Max noticed a string of numbers crudely scribbled on the side of the cup. _A phone number. Chloe’s phone number. Wowsers._ The rest of the day, Max just itched for her classes to be over, wanting more than anything to get back to her dorm and call Chloe. Only… six hours. Ugh.

* * *

 

Finally, Max called the number she had written on her hand before she threw the cup away earlier, listening to the dial tone for a few seconds before someone picked up, and a familiar voice said “Yo,” casually. _That’s definitely her._

“H-hi,” Max muttered, blushing.

“Hey, it's… Max, isn't it?” Chloe asked. Max could almost see her smile.

“Yeah, it's me. I just, uh… how are you?” _Goddamn it, stop being so fucking awkward._

“I’m fine. We got a few more customers after you, but not much,” Chloe sighed.

“Slow day?” Max asked, sitting down on her bed.

“Nah, we’re just a small business. Mom has to work two jobs to pay the bills,” Once again, she sighed solemnly.

“Damn, that really sucks,” Max commented, pressing the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she got out one of the books she had to read for class.

“Mmhmm. How was your day?” Chloe asked, grunting a little. Max suppressed a giggle.

“Um, class was alright. Apart from that part where Mr. Jefferson got onto me for taking a selfie in class…” She muttered, blushing furiously.

“God, you really are a typical basic white girl, huh?”

“Shut up…”

“I’m joking, chill. I gotta go eat, so… see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Alright, cool. See ya.”

“Bye.”

_Beep._ Chloe hung up, leaving Max sitting there in silence, a massive grin plastered on her face. Trying to push away thoughts of seeing Chloe again tomorrow, Max opened the book, turning to chapter 3 and reading, but every word just went past her eyes with no meaning. After 10 minutes, she sighed angrily, putting the book back into her bag once she realized she wasn’t taking any of it in. Changing into pajamas quickly, Max got into bed, turned off her bed, and fell asleep almost immediately, even though it was only 9 at night.

* * *

 

The next day, Max woke up at 6 in the morning, 3 hours before class, but that didn’t stop her from going to Chloe’s coffee shop. She took as long as humanly possible to get ready, spending half an hour in the shower, and another half an hour getting dressed. By the time she walked out of the girl’s dorm, it was 8:30. _Perfect._

As soon as Max walked into the small coffee shop, a cloud of smoke hit her, earning a long cough from her. Behind the counter, Chloe looked up, cigarette in mouth, her entire face seeming to light up when she saw Max. She jumped over the counter to greet her, maybe a little too enthusiastically.

“Sup, bitch?” she asked casually, giving Max a small punch on the shoulder, which she ignored.

“Hey. I'll have a… cappuccino, please.” With a small smile on her face, Max fished around in her bag for some cash, the words, _I’m sure I have a 5 in here somewhere…_ , ringing through her head nonstop. Eventually, after a minute or so of watching Max desperately empty her bag for money, Chloe grabbed her wrist, the corners of her mouth raised in a tiny, yet definitely noticeable, smile. Max almost felt her legs buckle beneath her.

“Dude, it's on the house,” she said in the softest, most caring voice ever, letting go of the smaller girl’s wrist. Nodding slowly, Max drew her hand out of her bag, letting it dangle limply at her side as Chloe hurried over to get Max’s coffee as she herself took a seat at one of the tiny tables next to the window, watching the sunrise with a dreamy expression. A few minutes later, someone pulled out the chair opposite her, and out a cup in front of her. Max looked up at Chloe, a smile immediately appearing in place of the dream-like, dopey face she was making just milliseconds before. Chloe put her head on her hands and looked at Max, the same tiny smile that was there minutes ago made Max feel warm inside.

“So,” Chloe started, shattering the serene silence between them “try the Price Family Cappuccino, brewed with our secret ingredient,” she continued, her smile growing every second. Max rolled her eyes.

“What's the secret ingredient, miss Price?” She asked, putting the mug to her lips.

“Vodka.”

“Mmhmm. Sure.”

“Just drink it, hippie.”

“Right away, punk.” As Chloe grumbled something that involved “asswipe”, Max took a sip of the drink, the warmth helping with the cold, November air outside. There was obviously no alcohol inside, but it made her feel just as warm and fuzzy as the small bit of alcohol that Max had had before. Once Chloe saw that Max had taken a drink, she stopped muttering and looked at her eagerly, an excited “Well?” indicating that this was her first time serving the beverage to other people.

“Wowsers, that's really good,” Max said simply, grinning as Chloe celebrated. “Can I-uh-take it to class? It starts soon, and I don't wanna be late…” She murmured, blushing at how childish she sounded. Chloe seemed confused for a second, before realizing what she had asked and nodding frantically and hurrying back to the counter, searching desperately for a to-go cup. Soon enough, Chloe sent Max off, disposable paper cup in hand.

“Come by when your classes are done, ok?”

“Why?”

“I can't tell you, dummy, that would ruin the surprise!”

“Alright fine. See you then.”

“Bye, Maxi-pad.”

**Author's Note:**

> Remember to leave kudos, reviews, etc. Also, The Caulfields chapter 3 is postponed for the time being, as this coffee shop AU is far more fun to write.


End file.
